Here's what the thumbnail looks like. Not much, but it gets the ideas down from my brain. I actually scribbled this a while back, and had been meaning to elaborate on it for some time. This is what sketchbooks are great for! Anytime you have even the inkling of an idea, take a minute and scribble something, and then when a dry spell comes along, a flip through the sketchbook provides a wealth of ideas waiting to be explored.

From that rough scribble of a concept, I developed it into this finalized sketch.

And then in photoshop I messed around to determine a color scheme. Initially I started out with the green tones, but then shifted it to the blue for a more dream-like quality. I had to sit on the colors for a day though before coming to an actual decision, as those of you who saw my post of facebook noticed!

Started painting. Started with the background.

Moved onto the figure.

And then further development of the ripples in the water.

And finally the fish and the leaves.

...to the finished piece.

Be sure to visit Shdowscapes to see the full size piece and closeup views! -available here-